If you're looking for a way to heat a small home or add supplemental heat to a larger home, then a pellet stove might be the answer. These stoves are more convenient to operate and more energy-efficient than a wood stove, and they can provide warmth more readily due to an internal fan. Here's some information about getting and using a pellet stove in your home.
Why A Pellet Stove Is A Good Choice
A pellet stove is more like a small furnace than a fireplace or wood stove. In addition to having a burn pot, pellet stoves have a thermostat for controlling temperature and fans for circulating and distributing heat. The pellets are made of compressed wood, sawdust, or other biofuel. You load them into a hopper and they are slowly added to the burn pot over the next several hours so you don't have to tend to the stove constantly. The pellets burn efficiently so they produce very little ash, and this makes cleaning and maintaining a pellet stove easy to do.
Where To Install A Pellet Stove
When you're thinking of buying a pellet stove, it's a good idea to have someone from the company come to your home to help you choose the right size and location for the stove. The efficiency of the stove depends on where you put it and the layout of your house. Also, you have to consider that the stove should be away from children and furnishings.
In addition, the stove needs to be set up next to an electrical outlet since the stove needs power for the circuit board and fans. One solution is to get a pellet stove insert for an existing fireplace. If you want a free-standing pellet stove, then you'll need to choose a place where you can vent it to the outside.
How To Use A Pellet Stove
To use a pellet stove, you load the pellets into the hopper, and then turn the stove on if it has an automatic ignition. If you buy a stove with a manual ignition, you'll have to get the fire started with a gel or liquid starter that is recommended by the manufacturer. Once the fire starts, you regulate the temperature with the thermostat, and shutting off the stove is as easy as turning it off.
You'll need to add more pellets as they burn down, which could be twice a day depending on how much you use the stove. Pellets should be stored inside to keep them from drawing moisture. You can buy them in large bags, and it's a good idea to stock up on them so you don't run out on a cold night. As the pellets burn, the ash falls into a tray that you'll need to clean out every few days.
Since your pellet stove will require electricity to run, you may want to consider buying a battery backup in case the power goes out. The stove won't work without an additional source of power; however, the pellets may smolder for a short time and continue to provide some heat through a short power outage.
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